- Paperback: 788 pages
- Publisher: Picador USA; Reprint edition (Mar 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312119240
- ISBN-13: 978-0312119249
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.5 x 4.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,891,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I didn't want it to end! This book took me through all the places I dream of visiting and talked about the many subjects, places and philosophies that I have gathered in my brain over 40+ years of reading. It took Barnhardt to put it all together in a logical and sweeping tale of adventure. I have recommended it over and over again and have gone out and bought copies for my sisters.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
GOSPEL is both interesting and infuriating. The latter, because it's twice as long as it need be. Barnhardt has no discipline as a writer, and he didn't get the severe editor he needs. He is afflicted with logorrhea, and rambles on and on with trivia and chitchat. But all this is interspersed with some illuminating stuff. The basic structural idea -- paralleling a first-century text (not really a gospel) and the 20th century efforts to find, keep, and translate it -- is a good one. But it becomes bogged down in irrelevant subplots, random observations, minor characters, aimless drifting, etc. It must have been written after INDIANA JONES and been modelled on the same idea, with definite movie possibilities in mind. But I doubt that Barnhardt would be capable of a screenplay. His would be 300 pages. And he drags the reader all over the Western World -- Oxford, Florence, Rome, Assissi, Jerusalem, Mt. Athos, Athens, Alexandria, Aswan, Khartoum, Addis Ababa, New Orleans, etc. Barnhardt has apparently been all these places, and wants to share the experience with us. Not to mention the travels of Matthias, the "gospel" writer. Recommended if you have the patience. But it would be twice as good if the writer were more focussed.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although the length of this book is daunting and the "conversations with god" are a little odd, this is a meticulously researched novel that provides the reader with a realistic and endearing look at the truth behind christianity. Although I resisted the ending due to my very Catholic upbringing, I still have to recommend this book to anyone looking for adventure, romance, history, and some wonderful soulsearching moments about the meaning behind our two thousand year old relationship with Christ. Perhaps the perfect summer read. It was a well developed novel that kept me reading for two weeks. I am still sad that it had to end. Barnhardt at his best.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Overlong, but thought provoking
In the late 1970s I saw an atrocious mini-series on television called "The Word." It starred Darin McGavin (later to become Kolchak, the Night Stalker) and was based on the novel... Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2006 by Glen Engel Cox
A historical romp into the origins of Christianity
An alcoholic ex-Jesuit historian in the University of Chicago gets wind of the lost gospel of St. Mathias, the apostle chosen with straws after the death of Judas. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 1999
Remarkable
This book is pure fun. I don't think that I have to write an elongated review to say that this book kept me reading constantly, and mentally guessing now what?... now what?... Read more
Published on 20 Dec 1998
Worth the Trouble
A somewhat daunting book to read, but well worth it for its story and unique perspective on the history of religion. Read more
Published on 17 Nov 1998
Probably the best book written during the past 10 years.
The gospel itself, and the "yuck stories" of gross martyrdoms, are a major reason this novel appealed to me. Read more
Published on 1 July 1998
A fun read, if you ignore suspect theology
This book is a lot of fun if you know a variety of faith communities and like to see their foibles skewered. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 1998
The best book, I ever read!
If you need a well written, funny and intellectual book, with a lot of pages, great characters and a fantastic story, than buy this novel! Read more
Published on 11 April 1998
Juggling passe religion with high octain spirituality.
There are few books who can intellegently and diligently chronicle the foibles of the catholic church and see through to the essence of faith and spirituaility. Read more
Published on 11 Jan 1998
Who cares?
When I first read a synopsis of this book, I was really intrigued. I normally enjoy novels which involve extensive research and are crammed with information. Read more
Published on 7 Dec 1997
A Portrait of the Author as Intellectual Wannabe
I came to this book with high hopes. Wow, an "erudite detective story" was what I had been told to expect... but what I got was an endless book of information dropping. Read more
Published on 14 Nov 1997
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